Presidential Elections Have Gone Ahead Through Wars and Pandemics

Does the President have the power to issue an executive order that postpones the date of a Presidential election due to a national emergency?

Through the history of the United States, the Presidential election has never been postponed due to a national emergency.

The power of the President to postpone the election with an executive order has never been tested, though the Constitution states that the power to change the date of the election lies with Congress.

Experts state that an executive order by the President to attempt to change the date of an election would "likely" be unconstitutional.

-

The United States has continued to hold their Presidential elections during wars and pandemics.

The 1864 Presidential election, for instance, was held near the end of the Civil War. There was no attempt to postpone the election due to the ongoing war, and more than 4 million people ended up voting, with President Abraham Lincoln being declared the winner.

The 1944 US Presidential election was held on Tuesday, November 7th, 1944. World War II was continuing to rage at the time, and there were no attempts made to postpone the election. Nearly 50 million people ended up voting in the 1944 election, with President Roosevelt easily winning another term in office.

The 2020 US Presidential election was held on November 3rd, 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result of the pandemic, many people chose to vote early or vote by mail, which resulted in a historically strong turnout. President Joe Biden ended up winning the election.

-

Here are three cases where an argument could have been made to declare a "national emergency" to postpone the Presidential election.

In all three cases, the elections went ahead as planned without a hitch.

Filed under: General Knowledge